A wise teacher understands that the classroom is not the beginning and the end of learning.
I think this might be hard to practice in more general studies, with younger children.
But this should be obvious for high school and college students.
Teaching Economics 101, 102, or 202 should be nothing but an initiation to the topic.
If taught well, students should be going home and reading on their own books like:
- Basic Economics, By: Thomas Sowell
- Economics In One Lesson, By: Henry Hazlitt
- Fair Play, By: Steven Landsburg
A good teacher shares wisdom. A great teacher kindles a desire for more.
“Well,” Jones said, “think of it like this: When a kid goes on his first Easter egg hunt, an adult has to take him by the hand. At this particular activity the adult is a skilled and knowledgeable instructor and teaches the grateful child exactly what to look for and how colored eggs are hidden. “The child is being engaged in a process that is already paying big dividends. He has found something that works. Why would I change anything? he might ask, and that question to him, from his perspective, seems entirely reasonable. After all, just look at the eggs in his basket! “However, that is exactly when a wise teacher pulls away. Why? For the greater benefit of the student. Certainly a teacher could acquiesce and agree to take the child by the hand until all the eggs have been found. But a wise teacher understands that the child who runs free—without the constraint of even the wisest teacher—can now achieve greater success by himself. The child has more energy than the teacher, a greater interest in colored eggs than the teacher, and more desire to run for hours than the teacher could ever hope to muster, fueled by the possibility of the ultimate prize—a golden egg.
-Andy Andrews, The Noticer Returns
